Indian Culture (Kuala Lumpur)

In a recent discussion on Internations, there was quite an interest in discussion around Indian Culture - the diversity of language(s), movies, festivals, sights and other interesting facts about India.

The culture of India refers to the way of life of the people of India. India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food, and customs differ from place to place within the country.

The Indian culture, often labelled as an amalgamation of several cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and includes traditions that are several millennia old. Many elements of India's diverse cultures, such as Indian religions, yoga, and Indian cuisine, have had a profound impact across the world.

There are two major sub cultural variations within India, which evolved mainly by contact with Muslim powers: North Indian States were influenced by the medieval Indo-Persian culture, exemplified by its musical, culinary and architectural designs such as the Hindustani classical music and the Taj Mahal, while the culture of South India developed largely independent of foreign influences — three of the four languages classified as classical languages of India belong to the Dravidian language family, namely Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.

India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, collectively known as Indian religions. India is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, with some of the most deeply religious societies and cultures.

Namaste, namaskar or Namaskara(Kannada) or Namaskaram (Telugu, Malayalam), Vanakkam (Tamil),Nomoshkaar (Bengali), Nomoskar (Assamese) is a common spoken greeting or salutation, though becoming considered old-fashioned by some.

So feel free to post your questions/ comments about language, location, or even memories to share from India, things you would like to share about India, Indian food, politics, anything, something just for India and India crazy people like many of us here :)